What explains Trump’s relative pivot away from hawkishness towards China? With the usual caveat that the Trump administration has a flair for the unpredictable, I would point to three chief factors: unpleasant memories from Trump’s first term, the well-publicised sway of tech mogul Elon Musk and the lesser-known input of Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang. Combined, they provide reasons one might expect a more pragmatic and compromising tone from Trump as he seeks a new and improved China strategy.